Swimming hall of fame in Oceanside?

OCEANSIDE  The Florida-based International Swimming Hall of Fame is looking for a home on the West Coast and Oceanside is one of the prime candidates, officials say.

Developer Sherman Whitmore is working with the organization to pitch a swim museum and hotel and water park complex on a 55-acre section of the El Corazon property in central Oceanside.

Whitemore said El Corazon would be ideal for the project because of its location in sunny Southern California, where tourists and athletes abound.

“It’s near the beach, it’s near San Diego, it’s 40 minutes to an airport, it’s got wonderful accessibility and the weather is some of the best in the world,” he said.

The project, estimated to cost about $130 million, would include a 400-suite hotel, a 30-acre water park, a 70-meter pool, dormitories for athletes, six beach volleyball courts and trails that could be used for triathlon training.

It would be a major step up for the Hall, which now runs a 7,500 square foot museum tucked in an aging aquatic complex in Fort Lauderdale that draws about 12,000 visitors a year.

The organization isn’t affiliated with USA Swimming — the agency that oversees competitive swimming in the U.S. — but its board of directors includes former Olympic gold medalist Donna De Vorona and several executives with ties to the sport. Legendary swimmer Mark Spitz is the board’s chairman emeritus.

David Jay Flood, an architect and former commissioner for aquatics for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games who is consulting on the project, said that the Hall’s museum, on its own, probably wouldn’t draw too many visitors to Oceanside, but the hotel and aquatic facilities make the project stand out.

“Basically, it’s a destination resort for sports,” said Flood.

City Manager Peter Weiss said the City Council recently agreed to let staff begin talks with the developer, but that there are many questions about the project that have yet to be addressed — including how it will be financed.

“You have this wonderful idea, now you need to show us how you are going to do it,” Weiss said.

Whitmore said financial details have not been fleshed out and need to be negotiated with the city. The Hall’s has a modest annual budget of about $600,000.

Its Florida museum is home to a large collection of video, photos and memorabilia, such as the starting block that Spitz used in the 1972 Olympics when he won seven gold medals, but it’s small and doesn’t generate much revenue.

The 50-year, rent-free lease agreement with Fort Lauderdale expires in 2015, said Bruce Wigo, president of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Wigo, who is credited with helping to turn around the nearly bankrupt USA Water Polo in the 1990s, said Hall is looking to expand and that the Fort Lauderdale facility is just too small.

The city of Fort Lauderdale plans to spend about $32 million to upgrade the swim complex where the Hall is located, according to a May 26 article in the Miami Herald, but Hall officials say that’s not enough.